Three very different sisters beguile society with their beauty and charm, but only one of them must fulfill a prophecy: marry a prince. Who is the mystery Prince Charming, and which sister will be his bride?

All that clever, passionate Ravenna Caulfield wants is to stay far away from high society’s mean girls.

All that handsome, heroic Lord Vitor Courtenay wants is to dash from dangerous adventure to adventure.

Now, snowbound in a castle with a bevy of the ton’s scheming maidens all competing for a prince’s hand in marriage, Ravenna’s worst nightmare has come true.

Now, playing babysitter to his spoiled prince of a half-brother and potential brides, Vitor is champing at the bit to be gone.

When a stolen kiss in a stable leads to a corpse in a suit of armor, a canine kidnapping, and any number of scandalous liaisons, Ravenna and Vitor find themselves wrapped in a mystery they’re perfectly paired to solve. But as for the mysteries of love and sex, Vitor’s not about to let Ravenna escape until he’s gotten what he desires . . .

I tend to avoid titles like this; “I Adored a Lord” just seems kinda cheesy, but I was reading some early reviews and it sounded too fun to pass up. I was right, this is just a light read, a wonderful combination of historical romance and mystery. Usually, I’m not a fan of romance clogging up my mysteries, but I do like it when a mystery helps along a romance, which it does here. I guess it comes down to how it’s being sold – as a mystery or a romance. At heart, I Adored a Lord is a romance and an enjoyable one at that.

Ravenna is not a society charmer and it’s her sister’s fault she’s at this party. Ravenna is a gifted medic adores animals. She’s a bright woman and not afraid to be who she is. Well, I take that back, she prefers to be seen as less special than she is. Vitor has issues – he’s been celibate for a couple of years, was tortured at one point in time and has a reasonable distrust of his brother. But he’s not the pushy, alpha-male. He makes men puff their chests out and woman stare from under lowered eyelids, but he tries not to notice. Sparks are apparent at their first meeting in the stable, but the romance is a slow-simmering one. There’s plenty of heat, but it doesn’t build too quickly. The reason I really liked Vitor though is that he appreciates Ravenna’s intelligence, curiosity, tenacity. Yes, he finds her beautiful and tempting and enjoys teasing her, but he would not want her to act like the other society maidens with their fawning, their cattiness. That’s what makes them a great pair, both as potential lovers and as a pair of detectives.

The book does have a large cast of characters to keep track of, but eventually you get to know them all. They are (almost) all suspects and it’s interesting to try to guess whodunnit as the clues are revealed. So many suspects, none seemingly with much of a motive. I was kept guessing, but I usually am.

It is the second in the series, but works fine as a stand-alone. I may go back and read the first one, though, just because I enjoyed this one so much. Or not and I’ll just wait for the third. I do think Katherine Ashe is an author I’ll read more of.

I Adored a Lord is probably one of my favorite books I’ve read this year. It’s just fun and made me smile.

What a gorgeous cover! I’ve read Ashe before (she’s one of my local authors woot!) and really enjoyed them. Such interesting and fun characters. I’ll have to get this one soon 🙂 Glad to see you enjoyed it Carol!